Kids aren't the only tech addicts: Opinion

All too often, parents have their necks craned downward, gazing into the glowing screen of their tablet or smartphone.

Adults are as glued to their hand-held gadgets as children are.LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group/MCT

By Tom Deignan

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, so you know what that means: warm family moments during a time of deep spiritual reflection? Uh, maybe. But it’s also time to snap up the latest, greatest tech gadgets!

Maybe you’ll even end up like Theodore Twombly, the main character in the upcoming movie “Her,” who so adores his new, Siri-like computer operating system (named Samantha), he literally falls in love with her.

But the film also serves as a disturbing metaphor for our obsessive relationship with technology.

And isn’t it interesting that it’s not some slack-jawed teenager, in the movie, who takes tech addiction to a whole new level?

Adults, of course, are always expressing grave concern when it comes to kids and technology.

A recent study by Common Sense Media found that 7 in 10 children under the age of 8 have used a mobile device, as have an astounding 40 percent of kids under 2.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently warned parents to limit young kids’ tech time, because it may lead to a wide range of problems, from attention deficit disorder to obesity.

As for teen tech addiction, that, too, has been well-documented. Just go any place where parents of teens congregate and you will surely hear groans about teens and their obsession with those infernal devices.

But that’s only if the parents are able to talk at all. Because all too often, the parents themselves have their necks craned downward, gazing into the glowing screen of their tablet or smartphone.

Indeed, the hue and cry over kids and technology make it easy to ignore the fact that adults are just as bad, if not worse.

Consider all the attention paid recently to the news that teenagers are abandoning Face­book in favor of photo sites such as Instagram or Snapchat. (As PC Magazine mused: “Is Face­book losing its teens?”)

Less commented on is the obvious fact that adults remain loyal — to the point of obsessive — Face­book users. Best-selling author Sherman Alexie grew so fed up with nostalgic adults on Face­book he penned a satirical poem “Face­book Sonnet,” which begins: “Welcome to the endless high-school/Reunion. Welcome to past friends/And lovers, however kind or cruel.”

Others suggest tech obsession is ruining a generation of parents.

Think of Paul Rudd as the stressed-out dad in “This Is 40,” retreating to the bathroom for some precious iPad time.

Psychologist William McCann, who has studied adult technology use, recently told a North Carolina TV station that when Mom and Dad are constantly fiddling with their phones, they are “there” but are “not really” present.

McCann added: “The kids know that they’re not there, when they see (parents) on their phones.”

British journalist Molly Forbes bluntly confessed she has become an “iMum” — a parent who can’t stay away from her device, even when she’s supposed to be watching her 2-year-old.

Give Forbes credit for confronting her cyber demons, which is more than you can say for many other ­“iAddicts” out there. Try conducting this experiment at your next Christmas or New Year’s Eve party: Count how many times you end up staring at the top of an adult’s head as he or she gazes down at a smartphone, avoiding traditional social rituals such as, you know, talking with people around.

When the movie “Her” is released, critics will surely focus on Twombly’s intense loneliness as the explanation for his strange “love” of a computer. People might even say you can’t blame such a weirdo for projecting his desires onto a machine.

But when all the latest tech gadgets are unwrapped after Christmas, take note of just how many “normal” adults proclaim that they absolutely “love” their shiny new device.

Tom Deignan (tdeignan.blogspot.com), a writer and teacher who lives in Woodbridge, is a regular contributor to The Star-Ledger.